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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

September 2016 In Our Home

The sweet friendship between siblings

32 months old!

This month began with the feeling of being on a roller coaster ride with many moments of sickness, teething, and tantrums. There were days in which I felt at such a low. David recognized the deep needs we were struggling through during our days, and took a "staycation" (we rarely go on vacation, and so he always has those days available to take a break on occasion). I, of course, thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with him and he simply "do life" with the children and I! I was also very grateful for a helping hand during this time of pregnancy and toddlers. We chose to spend the time focusing on two areas of need: 1) the lengthy to do list that has been building since our move(s) and 2) neglected training with the children. We still needed to get our licenses and vehicle registrations switched over to Texas (*sniff* offical "goodbye" to PA). Fortunately we had the time available because it took us multiple trips and a couple of days to complete the process. We also had some home projects that were needing to be completed. The second area of focus was in regard to a few areas of training with the children that had been neglected. Our main objective was to begin working on improving independent sleep. To ease the adjustments to different locations, we had been allowing each of the children to become dependent on our presence to fall asleep or fall back asleep. While I'm glad we could provide the comfort they needed, we had reached a point in which it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to settle them both to sleep by myself when David was away for work. The children were also not attaining the full amount of rest they needed without the ability to cope with sleeping alone. (We believe that to teach them independence is to teach them how to cope well in life). So, we spent a week diligently progressing through a method for each of the children. It was tough at first, but by the end of the week the difference was remarkable. They were sleeping so much better and rising in more agreeable dispositions (and Mama has been getting just a little moment in the day to rest as well which has allowed me to be more personally refreshed and better able to manage the remainder of our day).

15 months old!

Speaking of personal refreshment and investment, I have felt a renewed passion for homemaking. I've been inspired and motivated to purposefully pursue learning and growing in the many aspects. I firmly believe homemaking is a valid profession if treated as such. Any good professional will continue to hone her craft. And so, I'm eager to make a greater effort towards improving upon my cooking skills, home management, personal management, and care of the children. Domestic knowledge and skills do not come naturally to me. I was certainly raised to attend college and then work a career outside the home (as is standard nowadays). The matters of home ec and domestic life require effortful education and practice on my part. Otherwise, I'm easily lost and overwhelmed. I'm tempted to give up and accept the mantra of "life with children is a mess- you're a mess, your house is a mess, your children are a mess etc." Instead, I wish to represent homemaking well, not just for myself and my family but also for others. There are other ladies who desire this pursuit, but also have little knowledge or skill. There are also those who are looking at homemaking with speculation of its validity. It begins and continues with education and practice. I've been exploring a few resources that will be of aid. It's always exciting and encouraging to determine to be a person who is always learning.

It's a boy!
His name will be Huxley Nathaniel R.

Our "tiny tot school" and "tot school" activities have very slowly crept along. I've discovered that two elements of child training are essential before success with planned activities. First, sleep training allows each of them to maximize rest and be fully alert and cooperative in the day's activities. We have just not been able to incorporate an activity many days due to poor attitudes and/or behaviors resulting from a lack of adequate rest. While we've made great strides with teaching Annelise to sleep independently, Tennyson continues to have difficulty falling asleep without someone remaining in the room with him. He consequently falls asleep entirely too late and wakes less rested than he needs. Second, independent playtime or roomtime training allows each of them to receive individualized and focused attention. They need to feel as though they have a moment in which they are not having to compete for attention. So, while one receives attention, the other one quietly plays alone in his/her bedroom. We have never been strong in the area of independent play. Both of the children prefer to have someone else with them (though they are not always able to maintain a peaceful relationship). It's something that I had always intended to instill in them, but never did. They need this time to themselves and this time for individualized attention from myself. I believe it will not only help us now, but also when Huxley arrives. I've created a plan for the next few months to begin working with each of them on independent play/roomtime each afternoon when David gets home from work (so that I can focus on one child and he can care for the other one). We are also continuing to work with both children, but namely Tennyson currently, on independent sleep. Hopefully, by next month we'll see some progress and can incorporate more fun activities in our days!New Books We're Enjoying This Month:(I like to purchase at least one new book for each of us each month. Note: The "*" indicates the inclusion of an affiliate link. I am personally an affiliate with Amazon.com, and as such receive a compensation for purchases made through the links. (Thank you!)).

2 comments:

Amy, I attempted to compose a few responses to your comment. However, I ultimately felt the comment and response would be best suited for a medium like email. And so, please contact me: ourhomemakingstory(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks! :)